Videos can be a major asset for your business in so many ways. They can help your marketing department draw in prospects, your sales department close deals, and even your human resource department onboard new employees.
But videos are never an automatic home run, and some videos are certainly better than others. In my last post, I drew on my experiences in creating over 30 client videos at TribalVision and laid out 5 tips for getting the most out of your videos:
- Videos have more uses than you think
- Know what influences budget
- Less is more (the power of short videos over longer videos)
- Have a plan (of what videos you want to shoot)
- Know your b-roll
You can check out the full post here or read on for 5 more tips for getting the most out of videos for businesses.
6. Fully Leverage Your Videos
A video that isn’t seen is a video that isn’t valuable. It’s one thing to make a video and put it on your website. It’s another thing to make a video and put it on your website, embed it in pitch decks, feature it in your e-newsletter, include it in your post-tradeshow emails, showcase it on social media, and give it to your customer service staff so they can share with customers.
Beware of two things though. First, there is such a thing as oversaturation. If, in a single week, a customer sees your video on five pages of your website, on your Facebook page, on your Twitter page, and in an email, the video becomes stale quickly and its meaning can become forgotten.
Second, make sure that your organization internally is aware of how other departments are using the video. For instance, if you want your sales force to distribute the video, make sure the sales force knows if/when the video was distributed by the marketing department so they can avoid over-sending/duplicate sending. This will also help avoid oversaturation.
7. Where on Your Website Matters
Where you place videos on your website matters. Is it a video that you want all customers to see? If so, the homepage is likely a good place. Or, is it a video that appeals only to a subset of customers (because it focuses on a particular vertical, showcases a particular product, etc.)? In this case, it may be better to leave it off the homepage but put it on the main page for that vertical or product.
Depending on how much visibility you want the video to get and who it applies to, consider placing the video on multiple pages. If you have several videos (at least a dozen), consider investing in a video portal (here’s an example from Cisco) that houses all of your videos, even if it isn’t the only home on your website for videos.
8. Scripted vs. Unscripted: Choose Wisely
When you’re planning out your video, you should think about doing a scripted video or an unscripted video (or doing part of the video scripted and part unscripted). If either scripted or unscripted seems like the clear better fit for your video, go with that one. You’re almost certainly right.
Somehow, though, you may be on the fence about one versus the other. “Maybe I could script out that testimonial clip. After all, I do want to make sure the customer mentions our commitment to service.” Or “maybe I could let my sales team walk customers through the step-by-step process of using our new tech product without a script.”
Both of these seem like reasonable questions, so let’s walk through some of the pros and cons of scripted and unscripted videos.
Unscripted videos are generally more natural-sounding. With scripted videos, the person on camera (unless he or she is an actor) often sounds overly rehearsed. Unscripted videos generally do not have this issue. However, they can have the opposite issue – they may not sound polished enough and there can be too many awkward pauses or “ummms” and “uhhhs” in the footage.
Scripted videos tend to generally work better when you have your employees on camera (as opposed to a customer, who – if they sound overly rehearsed in a scripted video – can turn prospects off). Unscripted videos tend to generally be at their most effective when they are used for customers and testimonials because they produce unrehearsed-sounding, sincere content that sounds more believable than something canned.
If you want to shoot an unscripted video, though, that does not mean you just show up on shoot day, grab a camera, and start filming. You should still have carefully planned interview questions for each individual on camera, preferably tailored to each interviewee. Having these questions ensures that whatever you want the interviewee to talk about gets talked about. That’s right – even if you aren’t telling the interviewees what you want them to say (by giving then a script), you’re still able to heavily influence what they say, just by asking the right questions.
For instance, think back to the hypothetical business owner above who thought, “Maybe I could script out that testimonial clip. After all, I do want to make sure the customer mentions our commitment to service.” If this business owner thinks that unscripted videos generally sound more genuine but is worried about a customer not talking about (or not talking compellingly about) a commitment to service, the key is to ask questions about customer service.
Notice I said “questions” and not “question”. Oftentimes it takes multiple instances iterating similar questions on one topic to elicit a response that sounds good on camera. For instance, “Have you been impressed with (Company X)’s level of customer service?,” “How do you think (Company X’s) level of customer service compares with that of competitors?,” etc.
Another benefit of asking multiple questions is that it makes each on-camera interview a bit longer. Most people aren’t naturally comfortable on camera and it takes some time to warm up and get used to the idea. I find that, if someone is on camera for 45 minutes, around 80% of the clips that make it into the final video come from the last 20 or so minutes that person is on camera. It can take a good 20 minutes for people to stop being as self-conscious about what they are saying.
9. Multiple Videos in One Shoot
Video shoots are typically either half-day shoots are one-day shoots. In each type, but especially the latter, try to film as many videos as you can. If your shooting time is expected to take 6 hours, you should try to film something for 2 hours (because many videographers will charge you for a full 8-hour day regardless). Even if you don’t have the budget to edit a second video for now, save the footage (quick tip: always make sure you own the raw footage) and edit the second video later.
The key to filming as many videos in one half-day or full-day shoot as you can is being efficient with your filming. Plan as much as you can ahead of time. As mentioned in Part 1 of this post, plan out your b-roll shots before you come in for filming. This will save time on set thinking of what b-roll to film. Get the location as ready as possible before the videographers arrive. Pick film locations where you can film the most videos at once.
10. Have Realistic Expectations
My final tip is to have realistic expectations. A video probably isn’t going to revolutionize your business. However, it can do many things, like improve your user experience on your website, help your search engine rankings, and impress prospects or new hires.
Conclusion
A video is only as good as the strategy and preparation that go into it, so follow these tips to get the most out of your videos:
- Videos have more uses than you think
- Know what influences budget
- Less is more (the power of short videos over long videos)
- Have a plan (of what videos you want to shoot)
- Know your b-roll
- Fully leverage your videos
- Where on your website matters
- Scripted vs. unscripted: choose wisely
- Multiple videos in one shoot
- Have realistic expectations
I hope you find these business video tips helpful. If you ever want to discuss video shoots or video strategies, feel free to email me at nparasher@tribalvision.com. In the meantime, good luck with your business videos. That’s a wrap!
